Mr Temple made clear that the victim, who had a boyfriend, was no more than an acquaintance of Braithwaite, to whom she sometimes said “hello”.

He said that after the killing Braithwaite did nothing to alert anyone to the presence of a baby on its own in the flat, and that he stole a telephone, some jewellery and a pedal bike.

Afterwards he tried to blame a friend who had been with him that day but police found no forensic evidence linking the friend to the crime.

Mr Temple said that after Braithwaite was arrested over claims of rape and false imprisonment on August 9 he was questioned and released on police bail.

“There were, of course, possible potential allegations to be charged against him,” he said. “He wasn’t charged at the time.”

Braithwaite was subsequently charged over the alleged rape, but the charges, and others relating to another woman, were all allowed to lie on file today.

They included five counts of rape and one of actual bodily harm, involving “manual strangulation”, on one alleged victim, between March and November 2005.

There were also charges of rape, false imprisonment and a further sexual assault involving a deodorant bottle in relation to the August 2007 victim.

Mr Temple said the fact that the charges were being allowed to lie on file was not because there was not sufficient evidence in relation to them but because a trial on those charges would not be in the public interest.

A long sentence was already inevitable and Braithwaite could not be released until the Parole Board saw fit to do so, he added.

Oliver Blunt QC, defending, said Braithwaite was suffering from a personality disorder, worsened by his use of drugs.

“This outburst of violence is something that he has suffered from before as a consequence of drug abuse,” he said.

Mr Blunt added: “Anybody who is behaving under the amount of crack cocaine that this defendant was abusing at the time is clearly not behaving rationally or sensibly. He cannot offer any sensible explanation.”

Miss Westbury’s mother walked out of court as Mr Blunt said Braithwaite came from a “somewhat disadvantaged family”.